Franke: It’s ‘Lower’ Education Now
by Mark Franke I spent my entire professional career in higher education administration, eventually rising to a senior position. I used to be proud of that. No more. The lofty goals of college study, such as free inquiry and critical thinking, were things we challenged our incoming freshmen to take as their own. Now this Olympian-like quest for Read the full article…
Half Past the Month
THERE’S A CERTAIN TYPE of councilman — you will recognize him once described — who wants to be someone else. Don’t get me wrong, these are men and woman of some accomplishment in their profession. It’s just that . . . well, they’ve always wanted to be a banker, a developer or some other captain Read the full article…
McGowan: Black Lives Should Matter
by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. “I have always been a believer in truth. Palliatives are harmful. One must have the courage to face reality. Without that courage, life is meaningless. The people who do us the most harm are the people who shield us from reality.” — Agatha Christie, Murder in Retrospect, p.150 When President Donald Read the full article…
Morris: Kindness Is Always an Option
by Leo Morris A reader commenting on my column about nimrods from Podunk emailed that he appreciates a little context with his news, “a concept that seems to be an endangered species.” Numbers are just numbers, he wrote. “Data should always be presented in context. Context can make the difference between truth/fact and honesty.” Anecdotes Read the full article…
Backgrounder: Civil War Battlefields
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always Read the full article…
The Outstater
POST-RIOT LIFE in our town is divided into the factions that a historian predicted more than 70 years ago, and we will be lucky to survive when they finally clash. Granted, nobody reads Arnold Toynbee any more. He is a bit thick, as British scholars tend to be, but his 10-volume magisterial study of the rise and fall of more Read the full article…
